David Kilpatrick wrote an interesting article at Photoclubalpha (Click here) about the future GPS future from the A77: “It will be the fastest locking-on GPS built in to any camera, and it will be the first to record ALL the data you need. That will include not only the latitude and longitude and height above sea level, but also the compass direction the camera is aiming in and the inclination of the camera. Combined with very accurate focal length, focus distance and AF locus data, this will make it possible to use the Alpha 77 for photogrammetry (measurement, mapping, object size identification).” Read the full article at Photoclubalpha (Click here).
David made a mix between rumors and speculations and I cannot confirm or deny the features he mentioned inside his article. If some of my sources knows more about the GPS specs drop me a text 😉
P.S.: Greetings to David K.!
55 Responses
Awesome! Geotagging is one of the most enjoyable aspects of photography for me lately, and I’m glad to see the A77 will have top-notch GPS support. It sounds like I’ll finally be able to retire my GPS-CS3KA unit.
Now if only the Gallery app on the PS3 will be updated to support geotagging; which from a recent survey I received from Sony indicates, they should be adding that soon.
So Dave uses your rumor as basis for his speculation and you turn around and use his speculations as a basis for another rumor!
+1
Isn’t that how rumours work? 😉
This just keeps getting better and better 😀
Am I alone to think that A77 is getting too dame good to be true? I can’t wait to buy an A77 if all the rumors are true 😀
must remember, this camera is delayed once upon time. may be this is the reason how it get better n better:D
What will the price be?
David & his son write reviews for BJP and David has been using KM cameras and lenses for many years. I wonder if he has had a chance to handle & appraise a preproduction A77? 😉
gps drains battery
So, turn it off if you don’t want to use it
Or use the supplemental battery pack.
so does every single function on the camera, right? Don’t complain about it, you can manage to go around things, it’s better to have options than limits =)
I keep forgetting to ask, any mention about tethering and the A77?
@lifeispixels – nah, I’m of a similar mind 😉
Well, I have a55 now and have GPS off cuz really dont need it 😀
I was reading about noise it ISO..like…more pixels more noise..so if a77 have 24 is it true to have more noise .. ?
This is true of any 2 sensors using same technoligy. but every new genaration increases eficency ie A580 16Mp is less noisey than earler 12/14Mb it replaced.
So most newer generation sensor’s improve Mp and/or high iso noise without leting the other down.
oh, ye, I understand :3
Well will see, when it come to Sony center I will go test it right away ! 😀
This sounds very nice, but I’d rather chose an A77/A65 without the GPS features. I would prefer to have a lower price and a longer battery life (I don’t think weight difference would be noticeable at all).
Not interested, unless I can use the GPS to read street directory 😀
Me too, usually i know where i am… without GPS
Well, this is unfortunately something I won’t have any use for, so hopefully it can be turned off or disabled and not drain precious battery resources, though I can see how it would be useful for some.
i guess most people dont want gps because they already know where they take their pictures.. in the living room and kitchen photographing their dogs and cats : P lol
well I don’t want the neighbor to realize that I took their photos from right outside their bedroom 😀
Turn it off then! 🙂
Interesting.. Altough it would be nicer to read somthing encouraging concerning image quality instead!
More than GPS I like “near-silent mirrorfree high speed sequences, and the 1.4X and 2X teleconverter functions (cropping the sensor field but retaining full HD 1080p video, we hope) this will make the 77 the world’s best camera for wildlife safaris.”
Really hope for near silent shutter. Also 2xTC keeping HD 1080p video resolution is great idea.
Hy ……. very interesting .
Greetings.
Being a long term user of GPS for personal and scientific uses I read some lack of understanding of what GPS can do in the article. Camera point direction and tilt are not something GPS measures. That would require a separate compass module for the direction, of course the tilt could probably be gotten from the SSS’ sensors. But each would have to be calibrated with something other than GPS.
I do not believe that David has any more info on the a77 GPS module, but is engaging in pure pie in the sky speculation. The ideas are nice, but I doubt seeing them all, if any. Sony is oriented to specifications satisfactory for Consumer Camera oriented users, not pro or scientific, etc. users.
It would be very good if Sony did change the software to never record unless it had a current GPS location, as regular GPS do. That is pretty basic to usable, trustworthy GPS.
What I want to know is which GPS chipset Sony will use. That will tell it’s capability. The a55 clearly does not use a up to date chipset, thus it’s slow operation, which is slower than the last several generations of Garmin GPS that I have. I would hope Sony’s choice of chipset for the a77 would be much more up to date, but we do not know that.
For now in my work I continue to use separate GPS which are much more capable and trustworthy.
I think David already toking about separate compass module and SSS tilt sensors. If I remember A55 already have horizon function, no? He also wrote in comment that GPS confirmation sign on screen EVF and top display also is very welcome.
i tot previous model already have something like gyrometer or accelometer (i dont know how to spell them, but each brand of phone maker name/market them differently) and my HTC phone has software able to detect all those infomation, so kinda combine of several hardware to do it… its Not New Idea. easily to be done. (look at Google Sky Map for android phone, and u get the idea)
“I would hope Sony’s choice of chipset for the a77 would be much more up to date”
Why? You’ve already told the world and his family that you have no interest in the camera – after all, you do not fit in the body of users to which Sony is now oriented (sic).
“. Sony is oriented to specifications satisfactory for Consumer Camera oriented users, not pro or scientific, etc. users.” – so why the A900? Why A77? Why NEX7?
Shall I sell my A850 for an A77? I nearly can’t wait!
I just want GPS in a NEX camera…. why, oh why, sony have you not made one that at least uses your proprietary accessory port? I don’t mind a small GPS on the top of the camera (though I’d rather it was built in.)
I’d surely pay an extra $100 for this feature! In fact, I’m not planning on upgrading from my NEX-5 for awhile… but I’d buy the NEX-7 in a new york minute if it had GPS built in!
Its 2011 for gosh sakes!
The Pentax K5 and K-r got an GPS module (extern) and magnetic compass and
orientation sensor so they can get all information needed to be able to track stars. So I believe also Sony can include this in a camera. If so I hope also Sony cameras can track stars with use of sensor stabilization as the K5 and K-r does.
But… a long time and the A77 and NEX7 can’t include all kind of usefull and not so usefull features. To much software development. Hmmm… would be nice if it was possible to load in third party applets. That would be a big new step forward. So third party developers could make all kind of new features using “Sony Alpha SDK” to access the powerfull hardware.
And if the camera got a magnetic compass I would like to be able to see it. Could be usefull a few times on walking trips. And GPS information like elevation. Hey! Sony should include a “personal trainer software” also, so you can see how long and where you have been runing. And a stop watch etc etc. Possibilities are unlimited, so third party applets could give all kind of applets. Maybe Sony could try it with an compact camera, just to see what kind of applets and how many was made.
Not possible as the Pentax anti-shake mechanism can rotate, something that is absolutely needed, and the Sony mechanism cannot do.
Sounds great, perhaps they should include maps and navigation. Or We will get it on some next Sony compact camera/phone
Fine!
Is Sony going to produce a high quality fixed aperture (f/4 would be fine) wide angle zoom, like a 10-22mm, dust/splash proof??
Would be fine for my purposes too.
It seems like Sony is interested in improving the world of web sharing. Next they will add a Share button to their cameras, so you can publish your geotagged photos on Twitter and FB before you see them yourself. The key word is camera not cell phone, Sony. How about replacing a900 with a camera that will rival Nikon D3. Oh wait, those cameras don’t make money.
My article is certainly speculation not rumour. However, I shall be absolutely gutted if the A77 does not have GPS at all – it’s been one of the most useful functions of my A55 and the reason I use the A55 instead of the A900 now for most travel and landscape photography. I’m attending a Sony press event shortly and my speculation is based partly on their choice of venue and subject matter, and the very minimal hint of a unique selling point. If that event turns out not to be the A77 I will be even more gutted, as I will have wasted a lot of time and money attending it. You can treat the article as informed guesswork. I hope I make it clear that it is NOT a leak of confirmed info.
have fun 😉
Sony press event shortly?
It means lot of leaks shortly?
i wish sony focusing at picture and video .. 🙁
specially control ISO and AF
ISO control? You’re joking right?
Sound like A77 is going to be a ground-breaking release 😛
I hardly use GPS in my camera becaus I have to download data in certain time intervalls to make it work correctly. HX5, for example. And it consumes a lot of energy, thats why I hardly used it with Nex5 and its small batteries. A few more photos are more important.
No rumors about A99, A88 and A990?
Cant’t we expct such cameras any longer?
Great! We are one step closer to Skynet!
Cameras already knows our family and friends so it can AF on them in crowds.
And now I came to the idea that blocked/unwanted persons will be always blurred …ups… out of focus hehe 🙂
Patented!
Well now I am wondering. Why in the world would I want to know the exact location a picture is taken? I sure know where I took it anyway and this information doesn’t add anything to the photography experience.
You may not be travelling that much, then. I’m pretty sure I can’t exactly pinpoint on the map each and every venues I shot 4 years ago…
Well I am traveling quite a lot actually, and of course this doesn’t matter at all. What is the importance of this information? The image is the image. Why would you like to “exactly pinpoint on the map each and every venue”?
Well, for travel photographers who runs a website promoting places of interest or bloggers, this is a very useful feature to have.
Ansel Adams did just fine without an exact camera location. Pictures speak louder than a bunch of GPS data. Too bad Sony cares only about fancy toys and trivial junk. After a trip to Sony store, I realized that Sony took its legendary Minolta legacy and inserted it up its a$$.
Just because you do not need a feature doesn’t discount its usefulness to others. I shoot professionally as well as for leisure and the GPS coordinates would be very useful to me for various reasons.
To everyone whining about battery life, I seriously doubt the feature makes a marked difference on how many pictures can be taken- I am surprised this wasn’t brought up as persistently with implementation of movie modes, evf, live-view, etc…
I am happy with my A850, and looking forward to the replacement for the A900.